This invention relates, in general, to site specific on demand deep brain stimulation for enhancement of memory.
Loss of the ability to transform experience into what can be later remembered is one of the most dreaded afflictions of the human condition. It is one of the first features of Alzheimer's disease, which affects millions of people worldwide and is an unwelcome companion of the aging process becoming an increasing burden on individuals and society as life expectancy increases. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has emerged in recent years as a powerful technique to treat a host of neurological disorders from Parkinson's disease and dystonia to psychiatric disorders such as depression.
The medial temporal lobe of the human brain is critical for the ability to transform daily experience into lasting memories and is among the first brain centers to be affected in Alzheimer Disease with resultant changes in memory performance. The present invention is targeted at improvement of memory in humans by applying deep brain stimulation in a critical brain site at the medial temporal lobe at specific phases of information processing and with intrinsic feedback of neural signals.